magnetic

In all honesty, Wanda wasn’t sure whether it would be easier or harder to accept Lorna as her biological sister if they were strangers. There were moments when the divide between friendship and sisterhood were strange, and in many ways, Wanda was happier as Lorna’s friend than her sister. It was far simpler, but by the same token, Wanda was grateful that she was capable of supporting her throughout the revelation that Magneto was Lorna’s father. When she had discovered it, an event that lead to her abandoning the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Wanda had been distressed, lonely and angry. Lorna, of course, felt similarly, but she had much more supportive people in her life. With all the factors in mind, there wasn’t a part of Wanda that regretted being present as a friend firstly. It was simply more difficult, but as the saying went, all things worthwhile were hard. Lorna and their relationship was certainly among them.

As Lorna showered Spock with attention, Wanda couldn’t help but smile. In many ways, Lorna fit in with Wanda’s created family easily, and it was moments like these that proved that. Her dogs loved Lorna, Johnny was excited (she hoped) to get to know Lorna better and in time, Wanda intended to introduce Lorna to Clint. That, Wanda supposed, would make Lorna’s status as her sister official. “He’s the best boy in the world,” she replied, kissing Spock’s head gently. He licked her in response and Wanda couldn’t help but laugh. “Zasha will never let you leave,” she warned. It wasn’t entirely true, Zasha, despite loving attention, did prefer her parents to strangers. It was inevitable, she supposed. “Thank you,” Wanda added with a grin. “I think they’re the best dogs, too. You can always dog sit for a night if you’d like.” Johnny would probably love the idea of a night entirely to themselves, and Wanda would like Lorna to spend more time with her pets. They really were akin to children. “Not always, but we do respond to every threat that the authorities can’t,” Wanda replied with a sigh. “Sometimes the threats are terrifying and huge, and other times they’re… well, swamp monsters.” Wanda couldn’t think of an eloquent way to phrase that. “What kinds of things do the X-Men fight?” Wanda, despite being a mutant, didn’t know a ton about the team that was once her rival. “Really? I’m shocked to hear that!”

Lorna had never had much when it came to family. Her foster parents had been distant, something she hadn’t understood until the truth regarding the plane crash came to light, and she’d never known her biological mother. Her father was obviously a can of worms she’d rather steer clear of, and when his true identity had first come to light, Lorna had figured she was pretty much done in the family department. She didn’t want anymore of that kind of stress, didn’t want to worry about which of her family members might end up manipulating and playing with her. She’d been fine having no one, resigned to it. Then came Wanda. The revelation that they were sisters had been a shocking one, but in a way, it had come as a relief. If Magneto represented the worst case scenario for Lorna’s future, Wanda and Pietro were the opposite. Her father was proof that she could be a villain, but her siblings? They were proof that Lorna could be a hero. She respected the hell out of them for it. 

The fact that Wanda had accepted her without question, too, was something worthy of respect. Lorna knew it couldn’t have been easy. Out of the three of them, Lorna worried she was most similar to their father, and it would be understandable for Wanda to wish to avoid that. She didn’t. Somehow, she put it aside, let Lorna hang out with her and play with her dogs. “He is,” Lorna nodded, smiling as Wanda kissed the dog. “The absolute best.” It felt so easy with Wanda, like maybe family was something Lorna might be decent at after all. “Ugh, I never want to leave when Zasha’s around! She’s so sweet, Wanda. Seriously, I don’t think anyone on Earth likes me as much as Zasha does.” The dog was beyond affectionate, though she naturally preferred Wanda and Johnny to anyone else. Still, she’d taken a liking to Lorna. Part of her wondered if the dog could sense the biological connection between Lorna and Wanda, another part just liked to think she was particularly likable to dogs. “Oh yeah? I think I’d like that. I’m not sure if the mansion’d be the best place for them, though. Some of the kids might get a little too... excited.” A bunch of kids with barely controlled superpowers were better left bored than excited, Lorna had learned. “I guess somebody’s gotta fight the swamp monsters. Can’t leave everything to the devil guy and his buddies, right?” Street heroes were respectable for sure, and they provided the bigger teams with no small amount of support, but some issues were a little too... intense for them. Lorna got that. “We mostly deal with mutant-related threats, you know?” She didn’t mention the Brotherhood by name, wanting to stay away from that particular topic wherever possible. It was an understandable thing to want to avoid! “Right? Where are their manners?” 

There were numerous people in the mansion wary of telepaths, and truthfully, Jean couldn’t blame them for that. Countless super villains and superheroes alike abused their gifts, but Jean, after years of practice, had perfected closing off the minds of her loved ones. As an Omega, it wasn’t easy, nor was it natural, but in order to respect the privacy of those that she loved, it was of the utmost importance to her. However, empathy was not a part of her mutation that she could control, and Lorna’s distress was abundantly clear because of it. She loved her friend, thought of her as family, and she was extremely worried about Lorna’s mental wellbeing because of it. It was obvious that something had bothered her, and while it was a choice whether she shared it, Jean prayed that she would. The weight of the Phoenix’s threats and promises weighed heavily on her and the concept of unburdening was tempting, although she would never panic her teammates and friends again.

“Panicking about having boobs?” Jean repeated, laughing at the thought. She hadn’t witnessed Alex’s reaction, but after hearing that, she really wished that she could have. “It’s very concerning, especially knowing how many civilians have superpowers,” Jean agreed with a sigh, the lightheartedness dying out quickly. Unfortunately, in their field, it wasn’t easy to remain joyful, a burden that every superhero shared in some capacity. “I’m glad you’re okay,” she said honestly, offering Lorna a smile. “I’m also glad to be myself and I’m grateful for everyday that I’m here. That’s a strange answer, isn’t it? Dying humbles you,” Jean said, keeping her voice light. The joke was dark, but one that she believed Lorna was appreciate. “I haven’t seen you around the mansion as much,” Jean observed. “Have you been busy elsewhere?”

Honestly, Lorna and Jean had a lot in common. They were both often distrusted thanks to their abilities, an unfortunate common ground that Lorna was confident Jean, at least, didn’t deserve to be on. People were uncertain about telepaths in general, but the Phoenix Fiasco had made a few especially uncertain of Jean. Similarly, there was no small number of people who didn’t like the idea of sharing their home with someone whose powers were essentially identical to those of one of their biggest enemies, and that was without Lorna admitting that said enemy was actually her biological father. There was something uniting in struggling under the weight of certain people’s distrust, something that made Lorna feel a little closer to Jean. She liked to think Jean felt the same, liked to think Jean considered Lorna a friend just as much as Lorna considered Jean one, but she wasn’t the telepath. She didn’t know for sure. It seemed a decent bet as long as Jean kept having lunch with her, though.

“I mean, in his defense, I can only imagine how weird it would be,” she laughed, shaking her head. She was infinitely glad she hadn’t been a victim of the bodyswap for a lot of reasons, but the idea that she might have woken up a man was near the top of the list. It couldn’t be easy, suddenly having... extra parts. “Hopefully it’ll fix itself soon, right? I mean, it’s hard to believe this kind of thing could stick.” Sure, they dealt with a lot of weird shit in the world of superheroes, but something like this? It could only ever be a temporary issue. “I’m glad you’re okay, too. Like, really glad. I don’t think it’s strange. I think it’s... I don’t know. Nice, I guess. It’s nice to be appreciative of that stuff.” Lorna figured dying was the only way someone could ever really be entirely appreciative of their life, and while it sounded like a nice outlook to have, she didn’t want to go through that. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to handle dying. “I’ve been dealing with some, uh... Some personal stuff, I guess. It probably sounds lame, but I’m kind of trying to, um, find myself? Like, you know, every twenty-something, but with more genetic mutations and shit.”

Tony had been scared of what he was capable of for as long as he could remember. A large part of that was down to Howard, what he had been, and what he continued to be even after his passing. Other kids remembered their fathers fondly, kept pictures of them up on the fireplace long after they passed. Tony’s father had always been the monster that was vanquished at the end of the story books, though even death had not removed the sting of a father’s disapproval, of the cold glares, the consistent disinterest in Tony’s very existence. If Howard was capable of that, if Tony was half of him, then surely that said something about what Tony would be like. When he grew up, when he saw the devastation that his weapons left in their wake, he realised what they said about him was true. He was the Merchant of Death. That curling feeling in his gut meant nothing. How uncomfortable he felt meant nothing.

Now, he knew a little bit more about the world than he ever had before. There were mutants in Xavier’s who had hurt people, who were unable to control themselves, who had fear bred in them from a young age. They were capable of redemption, so surely that should apply to him as well. Still, it was easier to apply that to someone like Lorna than it was in the mirror. “Noticed it,” Tony repeated, not quite sure whether it was a question or not. “Well you’re still standing here, so that’s always a good sign. When someone can fly, I’m always expecting them to make a dramatic exit the moment I start talking.” She couldn’t argue against that surely! “I’ll even splash out for the second slice of cheese. Do you have any plans back at the mansion? Fires to put out, kids with laser eyes, that kind of thing?”

Most mutants grew up afraid of what was inside of them. Their powers could be incredibly dangerous, could threaten the world at large. Lorna had known hers were no different, even before she discovered their part in what had happened to her mother and stepfather. She’d seen her powers used in terrible ways every time Magneto and the Brotherhood were out wreaking their havoc and calling it justice. When Magneto had confessed his true relationship to her, Lorna had learned to fear what was inside of her even more. Magneto had always represented everything she might become, but with the added information of their shared DNA, that possibility seemed more and more inevitable. Sometimes, she wondered if she was destined to become her father, if every moment she spent fighting against it was for nothing. She worried it was.

Other mutants, though... Their fears were far more far fetched than her own, far less realistic. Xavier’s was full of good people. Oftentimes they were good people who’d made bad mistakes, but that didn’t change what they were. It didn’t take away from their nature. Lorna strove to be more like them and, though she might not admit it, she strove to be more like the Avengers as well. The Avengers’ team was full of people who’d made mistakes, and Tony Stark was undoubtedly one of them. He’d been a warmonger before he’d been a superhero, and while Lorna knew many of his sins hadn’t been intentional, they’d still happened. He was still a hero in spite of them. There was something inspiring in that. “It glows,” she pointed out, though that wasn’t how she’d noticed it. It was probably better not to explain the way she could feel the device that kept his heart functioning. That kind of confession was bound to make a guy nervous! “I thought about it. I decided to give you a chance, see what you have to say. Work on that X-Men/Avengers solidarity.” It could probably use some work, even if things weren’t as dire as the Bugle liked to pretend. “You sure? I’d just hate to bankrupt you.” She snorted, shrugging a shoulder. “I only know one guy with lazer eyes, and he’s usually the one in charge of putting out fires.”

Alex is far more interested in what’s going on in Lorna’s life, what’s caused her to draw so far into herself–but that’s part of the reason why they get along so well. Both of them are objectively terrible at talking about their feelings, and far more inclined to punch things as a method of coping–but he thinks that the fact that she’s here right now, a smile on her face that seems to reach her eyes in a way that it hasn’t in a while, means that she might be getting closer to trusting him with–whatever it is she’s been struggling with. He huffs out a laugh and shrugs his shoulders when Lorna asks him how he’s doing–he wonders if there’s ever been a time in his life when that question wasn’t loaded to all hell. “I’m thinking about getting my masters–but that would mean being away from the mansion more. And I don’t–know if I want that. Scott needs me here, y’know?” He takes a long sip of coffee, drags a hand through his hair before flopping back into his desk chair. 

“I think I’ve opened and closed this page about–500 times? And that’s not to mention Hayley texting me about wedding dresses, as if I know what the hell the differences are.” He laughs and rolls his eyes, props his feet up on the edge of his bed. He feels his face soften as he takes in his best friend among the chaos of his living space, and for once it feels like they could be any twenty somethings–complaining about family and the terrifying nature of committing to something. A slow smile spreads across his face and he nudges her ankle, twists back and forth gently in his chair. “C’mon, tell me something. You’re not still hooking up with that one guy–the one with the tech startup? I miss waking up to texts asking if the nice body makes up for being a part of the capitalist hellscape.” 

Alex was incredible in a large variety of ways. He always seemed to know what Lorna needed, even when she wasn’t entirely sure herself. He was always willing to listen when she needed someone to vent to and, perhaps more importantly, he never pushed when she wanted a subject left alone. He never made her reveal more than she was comfortable with, and there weren’t words to explain how grateful she was for that or for him. She smiled as he went on to talk about something else, something other than her, hoping the expression conveyed at least some of her gratitude. She didn’t think it was possible to show all of it without voicing it, but maybe this was a start. “What do you need? I mean, I know you love Scott, and I know he loves you, too, but... It’s your life, right? You’ve gotta do what’s best for you, Alex.” It was something she was still sort of learning herself, something she figured every hero had trouble grasping. When you spent all your time risking your own ass to save strangers, remembering to do things for your own benefit could be... complicated. 

“Oh, wedding dress shopping? That sounds, uh... Well, I guess it’s not really my thing, either.” She wrinkled her nose lightly, shrugging a shoulder. She’d never put much thought into getting married, never considered herself walking down the aisle. Some days, she was sure it wasn’t feasible for the life she lived but others, she thought it might be something she wanted someday. She was never quite sure, never able to land in one camp or the other. Eyeing Alex curiously, she felt a smile spread across her own face to match the one he was sporting. She laughed as he nudged her ankle, shaking her head adamantly. “Ugh, no. there was the whole capitalist hellscape thing which, as it turns out, really isn’t sexy, and then we turned out to have kind of different ideas of what was going on... I thought it might be fun to grab brunch, he thought it might be fun to kick me out of bed before I’d found my underwear. You know, classic capitalist stuff!” She laughed again, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. “How about you? Any fun hookup stories?” 

Lorna was the personification of everything the X-Men stood for, as far as Scott was concerned. She had sought them out of her own volition, had found a family within their ranks, had encouraged other students to do the same thing, and had proven over and over again that DNA did not mean destiny. The Brotherhood was a constant thorn in their side, swooping in the second a mutant came into their own at puberty, but Lorna was proof that someone could have all the reasons for joining up with Magneto and his band of miscreants and still make the right choice, the right decision.

On a more personal level, Scott trusted her on the battlefield, but he also trusted her in the tactical room beforehand. Leaders had to make the hard decisions, and there were many choices that Scott had made in the past that had been difficult to make but ultimately necessary. Lorna seemed to understand that more than most, probably because of her own background. It was reassuring, in many ways, to look up and see someone nodding along when he spoke, which is why he had intended to pay her back with a nice lunch today.

That had gone pear shaped, as the majority of his kindnesses seemed to. “Do you want them organised alphabetically? All at once, or spaced out over the next few decades? We need to work out the terms of this repayment plan, Lorna.” Scott smiled a little, nodding along with her. “Yeah, my ass hurts too, and it’s not because of the stick for once.” Bobby would argue that, but Bobby wasn’t here. Scott looked at Lorna for a moment, expression deadpan. “Three potential exits. Target: the entrance hall, a hundred metres away. Chance of resistance: significant. There is only one way out, Lorna, and it is simple.” He took a long, wavering breath. “One of us needs to faint. Or pull the fire alarm, but that calls the brigade and wastes their time and I’m not up for that.” Way to ruin the joke, Scott!

When it came to decision making, Lorna wasn’t always the shining example of someone who knew what they were doing. She made a lot of mistakes, trusted people she shouldn’t, did things she knew weren’t smart. There wasn’t always a rhyme or reason when it came to the things she did, wasn’t always an explanation. She couldn’t even explain why she did them, they just happened. Sometimes, she liked to pretend they happened in spite of her, but she knew that wasn’t true. She had to take responsibility for her own actions, and she was trying to do that. People like Scott made it a lot easier. He showed her support even when she didn’t deserve it, made her feel welcome when few other people did.

A lot of the X-Men, Lorna knew, were wary of her. They saw her powers, noticed the similarities to those of Magneto, and they felt nervous. She wasn’t sure she could blame them for it. They’d all seen Magneto do terrible, unforgivable things. If she were a better person, she might have come clean with the full truth, might have admitted that her connection to the man went so much deeper than their shared mutation, but she was terrified at the judgement the confession might bring along with it. For now, she held the information close to her chest, but moments like this, with Scott agreeing to buy her lunch for no reason at all, made her believe that someday, maybe, she could let it go. Someday, maybe, she’d be comfortable admitting who her father was without feeling ashamed for the blood in her veins. Scott could help her get there.

Kate was one of the bets private detectives around, she had no doubt about that, but technically, she was not licensed. Occasionally, it proved to be a problem, like when she reported the baddies to the police and they bitterly told her to get one. (Yeah, it was a weekly occurrence.) As far as Kate was concerned, the fact that the cops hadn’t totally busted her only proved how great she was at the job.

Naturally, with that confidence in mind, she was stoked when Lorna Dane asked for her help learning the ropes. Their agencies would be completely different, Kate focusing on any case that crossed her desk — even the really crappy ones — while Lorna aided mutants, but with a partnership, their respective businesses could totally boom. Kate could redirect the mutants to Lorna, and Lorna could redirect the asshole New Yorkers to her. Win, win! Plus, Kate was very flattered that Lorna wanted her help. Once a decent case crossed her desk, several stolen objects that the police had dropped, Kate immediately called Lorna and they elected to meet in a cafe.

When Lorna emerged with coffee, Kate immediately grinned. “You’re the best person I’ve ever met,” she informed her lightly. “Plus, we match which is kind of amazing.” Kate was wearing her usual sunglasses, the ones she decided would protect her identity. It was a play from every bad superhero movie. “My order is anything caffeinated so you guessed right,” she replied. “It’s a bunch of different thefts,” Kate told Lorna. She pulled out photographs of the building every robbery had taken place in. “Allegedly, there’s no proof that someone’s been stealing them since the locks haven’t been tampered with and all that. So far, my only evidence is that the four people have been very upset.”

There were other, more experienced P.I.s around the city Lorna could have asked to shadow. On some level, she knew that, understood that she might be making something of a mistake here, but she didn’t mind it. She knew Kate, trusted her more than she’d be able to trust a stranger. Kate wouldn’t glare every time Lorna used her mutation, wouldn’t let slip some of the awful things about mutants that some people peppered into their conversations almost without meaning to. Kate was a good person and, in spite of her inexperience, a good detective. Maybe Lorna should have gone to someone else, but there’d never really been any chance of that happening.

The arrangement they had was, in Lorna’s humble opinion, a good one. Neither of them had the resources to draw in every case across the city, but between the two of them, they had enough to get some. If they shared those cases with one another, with Kate passing off mutants to Lorna and Lorna passing off humans to Kate, they’d both have a far greater shot at success. It was all about supporting one another, an idea Lorna could definitely get behind.

Lorna returned Kate’s grin with a bright one of her own, gesturing for Kate to take the seat across from her. “You’re not so bad yourself, archer,” she shot back with a grin, lowering her sunglasses and raising a brow. “We’ve got that detective look going on. If nothing else, I think I’d call us the best looking detective duo in town!” Maybe that detail wasn’t strictly important, but it was something fun to brag about regardless. “Well, it’s definitely caffeinated. Guess I must be psychic, huh?” Considering the people she lived with, that joke felt less and less like a joke these days. Leaning in as Kate spoke, Lorna investigated the photos carefully. “So you think it’s someone who doesn’t need to mess with the locks?” God, she wondered if she should call Remy. It was gonna be really embarrassing if her first case was her friend breaking into people’s houses!

Tony’s father had never talked about where he came from. Tony didn’t even know the names of his paternal grandparents, but he had his suspicions that their surname wasn’t Stark. Howard had reaffirmed, time and time again, that what he became when he moved to America and started making his own decisions, forging his own path, was what mattered far more than the place that had birthed him. Perhaps that would’ve been admirable if he hadn’t made the Stark name mean something by selling weapons of war, and profiting off death and destruction. Tony’s ethnicity had been nothing to do with him choosing to continue selling arms, or to shut down the weapons manufacturing plant altogether, but the press had much, much different ideas.

He was protected from the most bitter of attacks, though, by his money, his privilege, and his connections. The grand majority of those were legacy items, passed down from father to son, and Tony was well aware that he had been born into a position that most people who looked like him in this country could only dream of. The X-Men had some protection, but mutants were still greeted with anger, with vitriol. “Don’t worry, I’ve got a built in pacemaker,” Tony quipped, tapping his metal fingers against the arc reactor. God, this girl could crush him like a soda can. “Hey, if you spent any time with me at all, you’re going to learn pretty quickly that I’m impossible to offend.” Tony shrugged with one shoulder, the suit clanking as he did so. “The satisfaction of knowing someone else was rewarded at the same time? Or even better, I could offer the most prestigious of all American awards - a good, old style cheeseburger.”

There was a certain sense of unity between marginalized groups, something that could be seen in the way women greeted strangers as friends when they noticed men eyeing them suspiciously or people whose skin were a shade darker than that that ensured safety kept an eye on one another when a police officer stepped into a store with his gun strapped to his belt. It was something that shouldn’t have to exist, but it did. It was unfortunately necessary, and while it didn’t always extend to mutants, Lorna found that it wasn’t impossible. People who understood prejudice were far more likely to step in when they saw it happening to someone else, whether that person was being looked down upon due to brown skin or green hair.

Maybe Tony Stark didn’t face as much of it as he might have without the cushion of wealth, but he still understood it. He had to. Lorna was sorry for that, even if it could be nice to have someone who got it. She was glad, in a way, that he didn’t have to understand the kind of prejudice that came along with being a mutant, too. Eyes jumping to his ‘pacemaker,’ she quirked a brow. “Yeah, I noticed that,” she commented with a shrug, feeling it was probably best to just voice the elephant in the proverbial room. She could feel the metal in his chest, and she figured he knew it. He figured he also knew what she could do to it. Hopefully, he understood she wouldn’t do it. They were on the same side, no matter how many times the Bugle claimed the X-Men were the Avengers’ biggest enemy. “Who says I’m gonna be spending any time with you?” Her voice was light and, really, she didn’t think she’d mind hanging out with him. He seemed like a nice enough guy, and any Avenger was a good friend to have. “A cheeseburger is an award I’d definitely be down for. I think I’d like that more than a medal, honestly.”

With Johnny also in someone else’s body–and apparently causing chaos in that body–Pietro had made the executive decision to leave his sister to deal with one problem at a time, and the Xavier Mansion had seemed like the next logical place to go. Lorna was there, and he needed to make sure that she was safe in whatever state she happened to be in, and the X-Men seemed like his next best chance at being put back into his own body quickly. It was practically muscle memory to stomp up the stairs to Lorna’s room, begin talking about whatever was on his mind at the time–he hadn’t stopped and considered that he was currently very much not himself. “And here I though our shared blood entitled me to a certain degree of sympathy.” Pietro huffs and rolls his eyes, sets his face in a scowl that he hopes has the same level of effectiveness on this body. Judging by the one that he had met on his own face earlier today, he’s cautiously optimistic. 

“If I knew why I was in this body, I would surely be talking to you in my own. I’m fairly certain this woman is a criminal, and without my mutation to constantly regenerate my cells or whatever it is that it does–I am exhausted.” He flops down next to her on his back, his hands tucked into the pockets of the hoodie he had borrowed from Wanda earlier–a bright floral print in shades of red that he had chosen by virtue of the fact that it had a hood and he could pull the sleeves over his hands. He rolls his eyes again, and manages something between a smile and a smirk. “If I truly talk enough to make you question the universe, you could simply tell me to shut up. We are siblings, and if movies and television are to be believed, it is a common occurrence.” 

Chaos was pretty much a daily thing in New York, but this was getting a little out of hand. It totally was not normal for people to run around in the bodies of strangers, wild and unsure what was happening. It definitely wasn’t normal for Lorna’s older brother to be stealing her clothes because his own would look ridiculous on his new body. All in all, Lorna wasn’t the biggest fan of the whole ‘bodyswap madness’ thing New York had going on, even if she hadn’t been affected herself. “Hey, I’m totally sympathetic! I’m letting you wear my jeans, how much more sympathy do you want from me?” If nothing else, Pietro’s patented glare seemed to have traveled over with him to his new body. That was probably a good thing; Lorna imagined he’d be even more insufferable if he couldn’t glare sufficiently. There’d be a hell of a lot more whining, that much was for sure.

“People are dying, Lorna.” He rolls his eyes, but he’s smiling–as much as he is capable of doing so, anyway. Storm had explained the joke to him, apparently a reference to some show about a wealthy celebrity family–apparently with little awareness of the happenings of the world around them. He had failed to understand the appeal, upon watching an episode with the both of them, but it seemed like something his sister might understand and laugh at. “And yet it seems to be more important to post pictures meant to inspire jealousy in people  with which you have no relationship. Congratulations, I’m sure the woman who dated your husband before you will show up at your front door clawing at her face because she can no longer take it.” A woman over Lorna’s shoulder who has been circling a bowl of some manner of desert with her phone camera since Pietro arrived shoots him a scowl, but he simply rolls his eyes again and sets his mouth in a thin lipped smirk. He huffs out a breath, shrugs his shoulders. “Did I use that reference right, by the way? Tell me you aren’t also watching that Kardashian garbage, and I’ll feel comfortable declaring before the public I have one sibling who hasn’t disappointed me.”

Of course, he’s not immune to the aesthetic appeal of the whole spectacle–the hanging lights around the separate trucks cast a warm glow that reminds him of some of the villages he had liked when he was growing up, when he and Wanda had actually been able to stay and experience local cultures for longer than a few days. The premise is not dissimilar either, with people milling around and laughing, passing around food and drinks that could only charitably be described as having nutrition–he’s never felt like he belonged in situations like this, only keenly felt the differences between himself and others. But he has Lorna with him tonight, and he–could fathom having a good time. Being unaffected by other concerns, for a few hours at least. “You’re lucky I require a significant amount of calories in order to function.” He says as she orders for the both of them, his arms folded across his chest. “How have you been?”

“Oh my god,” Lorna snorted at the joke, rolling her eyes and shoving at his shoulder playfully. They’d grown into something a lot more like siblings over time, joking and messing around like this. It was nice, refreshing in a way Lorna never would have guessed. Maybe having a brother was something you learned how to do as time went on. She liked to think she was getting better at it. “I’m sure it drives people crazy. I mean, I know every time I’m scrolling through Instagram I’m absolutely wrecked over all the food I’m not currently taking pictures of. Had to delete my whole app because of it.” She barely stifled a laugh as the woman turned to glare at Pietro, apparently taking personal offense to their conversation. Looking back to her brother, she nodded. “You used it right,” she confirmed, wondering idly how he even knew that reference. Did Pietro keep up with the Kardashians? Maybe he had all kinds of layers! “God, no. I don’t actually know anyone who does watch it, now that I’m thinking of it. I really don’t know how it’s still on.” If nothing else, the show seemed to provide the public with killer memes!

@magneticmistrcss

Scott had never exactly been the most personable leader. In fact, Warren had, at sixteen, called him a ‘hardass,’ and while it seemed a little harsh, it had turned out to be pretty accurate. Social interaction rarely went in the direction that he wanted it to - people weren’t nearly as predictable when they were alone as they were in armies or hate groups - and so he focused instead on giving clear, concise orders, and ensuring the people who followed him trusted in his word, even if they didn’t like him.

Things had to be slightly different now that he was a headmaster as well. Students would only come to him if they felt comfortable, and so Scott was eager to show that he was welcoming. He had signed up for a teaching course, and that was where he was sitting right now. Back row, tie pulled so tight he could barely breathe, an hour and a half into the longest lecture of his life.

Scott turned around to Lorna, dropping his voice down to a whisper. “I’m going to take this opportunity to apologise,” he told her. “I honestly thought it would be an hour long thing and you’d get some lunch.” Bringing her in the first place had been unnecessary, ultimately, but Scott liked to have someone he knew with him if he could help it. “Do you think we’d be able to slip out the back without anyone seeing us?” Most people had to be asleep at this point, right?

When it came to leadership, Lorna had never doubted the X-Men. Her father would tout that their methods weren’t nearly harsh enough to do what needed to be done, but Lorna disagreed. If the Brotherhood served as fuel to the fire of fear when it came to the threat mutants could pose to humanity, the X-Men had always served as a dousing agent on that fire. They saved humanity from the Brotherhood, protected humans and mutants without a second thought. Scott Summers was a huge part of that, an important figure to the X-Men without doubt. Lorna trusted him entirely, would follow him without question.

Unfortunately, that was a decision she was kind of regretting now! She’d follow Scott into some big battle without a second thought, fight off whatever weird villain New York had to offer knowing she’d win as long as he was giving the orders, but following him into a teaching course had probably been a terrible mistake. She was so bored, and she could tell that Scott wasn’t exactly enjoying himself, either.

@magneticmistrcss

Lorna Dane was a woman that Jean had immediately taken to, and for that, Jean was sure no one could blame her. Lorna was fiercely independent, she stood apart from the vast majority of new students at Xavier’s whom were unsure of themselves and petrified because of their mutations. Jean would be lying if she claimed she noticed no fear within Lorna, and understandably, given the man that shared her gifts, but rather than shun them, Lorna embraced her magnetism and made it her own. It was admirable, and truthfully, Jean viewed Lorna as something of a little sister after spending so much time honing her power. At times, it made her nervous, particularly after battling Magneto countless times, but Lorna was nothing like the leader of the Brotherhood. If anything, Lorna Dane was the exact opposite, a true marvel.

That being said, there was a marked change in Lorna. She no longer spent time in common areas often and her friend group had seemingly gotten smaller. She hadn’t pried into her mind, Lorna’s privacy was something Jean respected deeply, but she had noticed a distant aura around her and unfortunately, empathy was not a power Jean could outwardly control. As a result, she had asked Lorna to meet her outside a food stand in Central Park. With bagels in their hand, seated away from the public, Jean asked, “How have you been? I know some strange… stranger than usual, I should say, things have been going on. The body swap isn’t exactly fun to watch, is it?”

If there was one ability that made Lorna a little hesitant, it was telepathy. She wasn’t initially secretive when she came to Xavier’s, didn’t initially hide things from her housemates, but her father made a liar out of her and it was a hard habit to break. She was terrified of what might happen if someone found out that Magneto was more than just a man who shared her gifts, nervous of what they might do if they learned about the blood between Lorna and one of their biggest enemies. One would think that this fear would make her avoid Jean Grey like the plague, but that wasn’t the case at all. If anything, the opposite was true. Lorna adored Jean, spent time with her often. She didn’t worry that Jean would read her secrets from her mind because she trusted her entirely, knew that Jean wouldn’t abuse her powers.

Because of this, Lorna didn’t hesitate when Jean asked to meet her away from Xavier’s. She felt a little more relaxed away from the mansion, a sad realization considering it was still very much her home. She still felt at home around Jean, at least, still felt comfortable with her. Smiling brightly, she took a bagel. “God, it’s so weird,” she laughed. “It was fun for, like, five seconds when Alex was panicking about having boobs, but it’s a little stressful now.” Lorna had gone from laughing at her friends who’d had their bodies swapped to worrying about them, and she was starting to fear how long this thing might last. “I’ve been okay, though. Glad to still be myself. How are you?”

✪: Have they ever let a rare opportunity slip them by?

✨: What motivates them? Is it a deep rooted passion/motivation, or is it something they struggle with from time to time?

📿: Have they ever had a supernatural experience?

She is a supernatural experience! Also, Xavier’s has constant issues with Limbo and demons, so she’s pretty hip with the supernatural. 

💋: Where did they have their first kiss? Do they remember who it was with?

Behind the gym of her high school. The boy it was with wasn’t particularly popular, and neither was Lorna. It was largely an experimental thing, just to see what the fuss was about. Like most first kisses, it sucked.

✘: Who do they detest the most? Do they typically avoid this person or antagonize them?

🔅: What’s a place that holds special meaning to them? Why?

starter for @magneticmistrcss

[TJ] hey lorns? [TJ] are you still you?

Tim was sat in the park near his college, trying to properly wrap his head around what was going on. Sending out a quick couple of texts to a friend he thought- well, hoped, at least- might know what was going on, he settled in to wait. He knew it probably wouldn’t be too long- Tim really needed to make friends out of the Batfam who weren’t able to fly, or have superspeed. Being late for everything kind of dragged after a while.

But, after all, it had been a while since something major had happened that Tim had been drawn into- trying to get his head down at college had guaranteed that, but given what was going on this was kinda more important than revising for a maths test he could probably ace in his sleep. Checking his phone again, he frowned a little. He still couldn’t understand what the point of it was. If it was some kind of attack… well. Throwing off several supers and random people across New York could certainly cause issues… so it was time to start preparing. An attack could come any day.

[LD] still me. [LD] how about you? i need to be on the lookout for someone running around in your body?

Lorna sighed as she shoved her phone back into her pocket, putting some well-needed distance between herself and the mansion as she walked. She loved every resident at Xavier’s, of course, but at the moment, things were wild and unhinged and she desperately needed a break. This latest attack --- because it had to be some kind of attack, she was sure, this was New York -- had been pretty indiscriminate in who it affected, leaving those who’d had their bodies swapped confused and frightened and those who hadn’t feeling hopeless. Lorna wasn’t sure how to deal with it herself, didn’t know how to wrap her head around the fact that a large portion of her friends were suddenly not themselves.

Had Wanda and Lorna not been friends upon their discovery of their sisterhood, she was positive that it would be much more difficult for Wanda to accept. Their camaraderie, and the silent understanding between them, had been what bonded Wanda to Lorna. Admittedly, it wasn’t easy for her to share Pietro with another sibling, but slowly, Wanda was coming to terms with everything their new relationship would involve. Lorna had no intention to steal away Wanda’s family, only to join it, and respectfully, Lorna was giving Wanda all the time necessary to adapt. Similarly, Wanda offered Lorna space, and inevitably, she was positive that their bond would be unbreakable. After all, few people understood how difficult it was to be the child of Magneto, a known and feared terrorist, a man that had made mutations even more shameful.

Truthfully, Wanda already viewed Lorna as family because of that unique similarity, and due to the friendship they had created a year prior. “Spock is right about everything,” Wanda agreed with a fond smile. Her dogs had accepted Lorna like an aunt ironically, always clinging to her side whenever Lorna was present, and that only made Wanda more certain about their relationship and its progression. “Zasha needs the affection,” she said with a laugh. “The toy will be an added bonus. She’ll be so happy to see you, Lorna,” Wanda said. “It was very gross!” The duties of an Avenger weren’t always glamorous, but they were necessary. “And did he chill?” She asked curiously.

Even before she’d known just how close she and Wanda were biologically speaking, she’d trusted her sister entirely. They’d been friends and, more than that, Wanda had been her confidant. She’d been there for Lorna when she discovered the truth regarding her mother’s death, supported her throughout the struggle and reminded her that it wasn’t her fault when she’d needed to hear it the most. When Lorna discovered her father’s identity, Wanda had understood better than anyone what she was going through because she’d gone through it herself. There weren’t a lot of people who could understand the complexities that came with being a child of Magneto (Lorna sincerely hoped it was an experience limited to herself, Wanda, and Pietro; discovering even more siblings would be a little too much), and Lorna clung to Wanda desperately in the aftermath. She hoped Wanda didn’t resent her for it, hoped she didn’t mind. She didn’t seem to.

Still, she wasn’t sure if she’d earned the title of family just yet. It wasn’t something she had a lot of experience with herself, but she knew it was important to Wanda. The last thing she ever wanted to do was infringe on what Wanda had built, to push her way into the family she’d carved out for herself. She hoped to become a part of it organically, naturally, and she hoped Wanda never felt forced to accept her simply because of their shared DNA. “He’s a smart boy,” she agreed, scratching Spock behind the ear and cooing softly at him. She laughed at the mention of Zasha’s obsession with any type of affection, nodding her head. She’d seen it firsthand, and it was kind of adorable. “I’ll be happy to see her, too! You’ve got, like, the best dogs. You know that, right? They’re incredible.” Pets were sort of a pipe dream at the mansion. There were so many people running around, half of them kids with uncontrollable powers. Any normal animal would probably be terrified to live there. “Is it always like that? Gross swamp monsters? Kinda thought being an A-Lister would involve a little less intense shower moments.” Were all super villains gross? It seemed to be a trend! “Only after we stopped asking nicely. Those guys, they never respect please and thank you.”